Countdown
by Scotty77
Summary: Naruto has finally had enough. After discovering the history of his family coupled with an unexpected betrayal, he will venture off from Konoha and onto the ruins of Whirlpool. Now if only he can deal with an irritated fox and the many ninja after him.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Naruto.

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_Part 1_

He was tired, so very tired of it all. He was only an eight year old boy and yet he was already sick of the way his life had turned out. The glares of hatred he had to deal with every day, the horrible treatment he received in the ninja academy, being overpriced for the cheapest of foods, he could go on and on with what he faced daily, but the mere thought was tiring.

He was thankful, incredibly thankful that he hadn't had to deal with any physical abuse. He knew that the Hokage looked out for him as much as he could - which really wasn't saying much considering the old man's position - and that anything that could've happened to him physically was put to a halt by the watching ANBU. It was a small relief that there was one or two shinobi that tried to help him. It wasn't much but it still meant something.

Though, the ANBU couldn't be everywhere. One of the main problems was that the academy instructors tended to be rougher with him than the other students, they wouldn't answer his questions, and refused to help him in classes, or sometimes a random rock was thrown at him from other students and they did nothing.

With each new incident the frustration he felt built more and more and now he just couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't pretend to be so happy, so cheerful all the time. Not after what had just happened no more than two days ago.

Two days, he thought sadly. It seemed to him like it had just happened a few minutes ago.

Two days ago he'd thought he'd done it, that he'd finally made a friend. He had been at the park, sitting on the swings when she came up to him. A young girl with platinum blond hair that he recognized from the academy, Ino, her name was.

She had asked him a simple question, well, simple to her. 'Why are you by yourself?' She asked. He was a bit stunned, that Ino of all people was talking to him. After all, she had seemed completely enraptured by that stuck up teme Sasuke, to notice anyone else, along with most of the other girls in the class. But here she was, talking to him, with a kind smile. And so, he answered. And they talked.

They talked about a lot of things, some things that were very trivial, and other things that were a bit more personal. They talked until her father, a man with similar hair, wrapped in a ponytail, came to get her. She said that they would meet up with him tomorrow.

For the first time in a long time, he was hopeful. And as it turned out, she did turn up, just like she promised. They talked some more and played quite a bit. This went on for quite a few weeks and he really felt like he had finally -after so long- made a real friend.

Then one day, as they played in the park, she grabbed his hand and started dragging him away. She said that she had something special that she wanted to show her new friend. After walking for a bit, she had put her hands over his eyes saying that it was going to be a surprise. He was so excited because no one had ever done anything like this for him. After walking a bit more they stopped and she told him to keep his eyes closed.

He'd thought he heard something like a giggle, but put it off as just some other kids playing nearby. It was only a moment later that he noticed the giggling turning into full blown laughter and he couldn't help but open his eyes to see just what was going on.

He was surprised to find kids from his academy class, mostly the girls, standing around him passing around pieces of paper and laughing and pointing at him while reading off some of his most personal secrets. He stood, completely mortified and unable to comprehend what was going on when he felt something wet falling on him.

They had completely covered him in orange paint. He looked up when he heard a familiar laugh among the others and saw, to his dismay, that it had been Ino that dumped the paint on him. She laughed as she said "That's what you get for making fun of Sasuke-kun and trying to beat him!"

The other girls giggled and cheered as they threw insults at him, supporting Ino completely in torture.

He could only stand in shock before the feeling returned to his legs and he ran. He ran faster than he ever had in his life and for the first time in a long time, he cried. Cried because the betrayal ripped at his chest and the painful loneliness returned to his heart.

But now, two days later, he was contemplating what he wanted to do. He didn't seek revenge on Ino, because all this had showed him was that he would never be able to make any friends here. No matter how much he loved the village itself, and the old man, he couldn't stand the people who inhabited it and they couldn't stand him.

With his mind made up, he knew he had to get out of here, and he had to get out of here now.

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_Part 2_

One of the good things about being who he was, was the fact that he had street smarts. He knew things such as when the merchants from other countries would be coming and going and he knew how to use this to his advantage. Oh of course merchants would come and go at random times of the year, however, there was one week in which there was a bit of a convention, if you wanted to call it that, that was held in Konoha every year.

That was the time of the year where the streets would be flooded with so many merchants it would be easy to get lost in a crowd. It would also be a hectic time for the ninja as they would try to coordinate their movements and end up completely failing.

There would be such a mess that no one would really notice if he slipped out among the crowd when it was time for them to leave. It was perfect. Now the only question was... Where was he going to go?

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_Part 3_

The Land Of Whirlpools.

It was quite a shock to him when, in his search for a place to escape to that he came across the name of a hidden village called _Uzushiogakure no Sato_or The Hidden Eddy Village.

Curious, he researched it further and found something that only cemented his decision to leave Konoha. As it turned out, there was a clan that occupied The Land of Whirlpools where the hidden village was located.

The name of said clan was Uzumaki. The clan got their nickname "village of longevity" from records about their long lives. That wasn't the only think special about the clan, as they were also known for their knowledge in the art Fuinjutsu, the art of sealing.

Interestingly enough, they were distantly related to the Senju clan, one of the founding clans of Konoha, with whom they had an alliance with. They also had a part in helping bring the hidden leaf village into creation, which was honored through the spiral he had seen worn on Konoha shinobi, and even on the clothing of some civilians.

Which begged the question, why treat someone from a clan that helped found their village in such a despicable manner?

Which brought up the next question, why hadn't anyone told him about this before? The Sandaime surely had to have known about it.

It should've been covered in his history class, a class where he always pretended to sleep in. Someone should've told him, even if it was as an insult, saying that he would never measure up to the Uzumaki of the past, anything would've been better than just not knowing.

Unfortunately, he was unable to find more information from the library (he managed to sneak in), other than the fact that the place had been destroyed a long time ago with the survivors scattered to the winds. Looking at the map he had stolen from said library, it would be an enormous hassle to get to Uzushiogakure.

He would have to travel to the edge of Fire Country, past Otafuku Gai into Wave Country and then take a ferry to The Land of Whirlpools, if there was even a ferry going that way.

And this was if, and that's a big if, he managed to get out of Konoha undetected. But, maybe, if he could make it to The Land of Whirlpools, maybe if he could make it to Uzushiogakure, he'd find something from his family. Something left behind, their history, anything, and it'd be worth it.

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_Part 4_

The turnout was better than he could've hoped for. So many merchants had, quite literally flooded the streets of Konoha, much more than any previous year.

You'd think that with this being a ninja village that they'd have this organized better, to root out the possibilities of spies sneaking in.

But, he wasn't going to complain seeing as how he was trying to get out of the village, and the chaos would only aid him. He had been saving as much money as he could these past few weeks, picking up money he found in the street and maybe taking a few wallets from some civilians. But only from the really nasty ones he crossed paths with, because he did have some morals after all.

Today, he was going to try and double his money pot. There were so many people it'd be ridiculously easy to pick a few pockets. He saw so many different shops and people yelling at others for bargains it was perfect conditions to steal from the distracted civilians.

He didn't think he'd ever seen so many people losing their heads. Except for when he pulled his pranks. That was different though. In a spark of brilliance, he got the idea to try to scout out which merchants were leaving for Wave Country, or at least Otafuku Gai.

Luck was on his side when it turned out that many of them were, in fact, heading towards Otafuku Gai, as there was going to be a gambling competition taking place there soon.

This whole convention continued for two weeks, two long weeks where there were many fights over clothes, drunken exploits, and regretful nights before the merchants started to leave.

Naruto knew that he had to leave with the biggest crowd to lessen his chances of being caught. So the day after the first group of merchants left, with his things packed, he managed to sneak into one of the many caravans leaving the village, one that actually contained a scroll, among other things that detailed where they were headed. And according to the scroll, just like he hoped when he scouted out, they were headed for Otafuku Gai.

Naruto grinned. He was finally leaving this cruel village and his tormentors behind. It was time to start a new life and hopefully find some friends, friends that wouldn't trick him and be cruel like Ino.

Watch out world, Naruto Uzumaki was finally free!

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_Part 5_

The Sandaime sighed wearily. It had been six days since the convention and he couldn't be more tired of dealing with all the paperwork it had caused. His normal two or three stacks had expanded so far that they created a wall around his desk, furthering his dismay at the thought of one day dying buried underneath it all.

He literally hadn't left his office in days. Now that the load was lessening, he felt that he had at least earned himself a break. Getting up, and stretching his weary bones, he made his way out of the building, and outside into the warm air.

He made his way through the village, greeting the many people who noticed their Hokage taking a stroll. Passing by a familiar ramen stand, the Hokage couldn't help but think about a young blond ball of energy that he hadn't seen in quite some time.

Deciding to take a visit, he made his way over to the blonds apartment wondering what he had been up to. He hadn't seen him in quite a few weeks due to the convention and the aftermath. Knocking on the door, he waited a moment to give him a chance to answer.

He knocked a few more times before the seeds of worry began to sprout. Naruto always, always opened his door by the second knock. He knocked one more time before he decided to just break the knob, he'd get if fixed later, and cautiously entered the house.

It was surprising clean, seeing as though Naruto could be rather messy. It was too clean, he thought as he made his way through the house, there were things missing and it looked like it hadn't been lived in for at least a week, if not longer.

He did a quick sweep of the house just to make sure it was empty before rushing back to the Hokage Tower and bringing out his crystal ball.

The ball was connected to the invisible barrier that covered the village and allowed him to see anyone at any given time if they were actually in the village. As he tried to lock onto Naruto's unique signature, he slowly but surely realized that the boy was no longer in the village.

Well, this wasn't good.

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	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing (insert funny joke here)

AN: Okay sorry for the long wait, I won't even get into to it. This chapter is a bit short but it's mostly just so I can ease back on into this story. The next one will be longer. This chapter is the beta'd version.

AN: I also have a youtube channel if you want to check it out. The link is on my profile.

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Part 6

Sarutobi sighed heavily as he sat in his office, his eyes closed in concentration. His mind was flying a mile a minute with contingency plans, loop holes, outdated laws and massive amounts of blackmail as he tried to think to himself how he could take advantage of this situation he found himself in. Naruto's disappearance was going to cause a huge uproar within the village, no matter how it was spun. The second the news got out anything could happen.

Currently, he was the only one who knew so he had a bit of time to work this in a favorable kind of way. It was tricky though, because of how much power he currently had, or rather how much he didn't have.

During the aftermath of the Kyuubi's attack on the village there had been so much confusion, so much anger, and so many things happening all at once that it had been rather easy for the civilians to gain an unprecedented amount of power within the council. By the time he had taken over as Hokage again they had already deeply ingrained themselves into a seat of power in which it was incredibly difficult for him, or anyone, to knock them off of their high horse.

He wasn't quite sure how they managed but he had an inkling that Danzo was behind the whole thing. He wondered what had happened to the one he'd once called a friend. As he took on the role of Kage, Danzo slipped further and further into darkness.

Sarutobi wasn't stupid. There was a reason he was called The Professor. He had been keeping tabs on all of Danzo's activities for years. There were times where he had been planning on taking him out but it was never the right time. There was never enough proof at the time, or there was never a way to expose him without hurting himself or the village in some fashion.

Now, however, he had a chance to kill two birds with one stone. Since Naruto was technically still a civilian he fell under their jurisdiction. This meant that he was still allowed to leave the village with no repercussions to his name and status. He couldn't be named a missing nin and he couldn't be named a traitor because he was never a ninja, despite having the strongest of the tailed beast residing inside of him.

Naruto had been treated badly over the years, nothing physical he made sure of that. But the neglect and hatred he faced was going to be the civilians undoing. They had gotten cocky and while making a law he slipped his own loophole into it.

Without getting into too many details, Sarutobi had basically made them responsible for the welfare of all of Konoha's orphans. If one like Naruto, and quite a few others he had noticed, were being treated neglectfully or being abused in any way, the guardian or guardians would be punished to the fullest extent of the law.

Every slight, every refusal of service, and every bit of hatred they had forced on Naruto was going to be their undoing. They would be held accountable for physical neglect, verbal abuse, emotional neglect, and a host of other things that other orphans in the village were going through.

And as for Danzo, well, he'd have to deal with him afterwards. He was getting tired of being spied on by the old fool anyway.

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Part 7

Naruto sighed as he looked around the town he was in. He'd made it to Otafuku Gai with no problem whatsoever. That's when he ran into his first problem.

He couldn't find anyone going to Port City within his time frame. Not only that, but leaf ninja were crawling around everywhere.

It was obvious they were looking for him so he had to take steps to make sure no one knew who he was. He managed to steal some temporary hair dye and concealer from one of the more feminine shops.

He now looked like a normal red headed boy with no whisker marks. Now back to the main issue, that being that no one was going to Port City, let alone Wave Country, because of some kind of gambling tournament being held in the city.

So far he had seen people jumping up and down clearly having won a great amount of money, people literally on their hands and knees begging for another chance after clearly having lost everything. Then there was the last one and he wasn't even sure he could classify her. He had been watching her for the longest and was utterly baffled by her attitude. She lost at almost everything she did when she gambled but she had a disturbingly upbeat attitude about it. She seemed to be having fun.

Trailing behind her was a woman in a black kimono carrying a pig wearing pearls. It was the oddest thing he'd seen in a long time. But the reason he'd been following them was because he could tell they were shinobi but he didn't think they were affiliated with Konoha so he was alright on that front.

The other reason was because he'd overheard them speaking one afternoon and they mentioned something about heading to Port City.

It was either the oddest coincidence or he had amazing luck. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

So he had been following them as discretely as possible for the past week, wondering how he would go about meeting them and somehow convincing them to take him along, which is why he didn't notice the shadow looming behind him.

"So this is our little shadow," a voice said.

He turned around to see the very women he'd been tailing, both with frowns on their faces.

"Well kid?" the blond said.

"Um..." he had to think fast but unfortunately his mind had gone completely blank. And so he ended blurting something that surprised not only the two women but him as well.

"Teach me!"

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